Challenge

Deal as much damage as you can on turn two on the play, using only cards from Scars of Mirrodin block.

Assumptions

You may assume that you have perfect luck. You choose all cards you draw, even after shuffling.

Difficulty Levels

Each level requires you to also meet the preceding level’s restrictions.

Level 1 (Easy)

Deal at least 30 damage.

Level 2 (Moderate)

Deal at least 40 damage.

Level 3 (Hard)

Deal at least 50 damage.

Level 4 (Insane)

Deal at least 10 billion damage.

Level 5 (Bonus)

Deal 10 billion damage turn one.

Send your solutions to nex342+puzzle@gmail.com with the subject line “Puzzle - Do The Damage” and I’ll include the best ones in next week’s article, along with the next puzzle!

Good luck!

Solution to Last Week’s Puzzle

Shout-outs go to the following people:

Bryan Hockey, for being the first person to send me a solution.

Michele Pini, who got the most damage with a sixty-card deck or an infinite combo (about 2.5 billion).

Steven Schrag, who got the most damage overall without an infinite combo (about 2.25 × 10^131).

Jennifer Wong’s solution, presented below, was the only solution I got to end with no cards in hand, no mana in the mana pool, and exactly 20 damage dealt:

Ian Richter’s solution, below, is notable in that it was the only solution I received (including my own) that didn’t use Glimpse of Nature as a draw engine:

Update: - Added a Level 5 challenge to this week's puzzle